Things you need to give up to make the leap from vegetarian to vegan

You would struggle to deny that vegetarians generally have the edge over their carnivorous neighbours when it comes to living healthily. Let’s be honest here, do you recall ever seeing an overweight vegetarian? But becoming a vegan is about so much more than cutting out chicken. Here are some things you may have to give up if you want to become one hundred per cent vegan.

Your shoes

If they are made out of leather! And let’s be honest a lot of shoes are. Leather as you probably know comes from the hide of an animal and goes through a process called tanning before being used to make all manner of clothing from shoes to belts. It is also used in other places. So you may need to check the upholstery in your car! Leather sofas and beds are also common, but a big no-no if you want to live the vegan lifestyle.

Haribo

Yes, this includes Tangfastics. Sorry. Most chewy sweet contain a substance called gelatine. This is derived from animal waste products such as their skin and bones. A bit grim I know. It isn’t just your fizzy Cola Bottles that contain this, unfortunately. No Jelly is allowed either, nor marshmallows.

Cheese

And eggs and yoghurt. But let’s be honest cheese is the big loss. No Pizza?! To be fair there are a range of Vegan cheeses out there and if used in cooking they are an acceptable substitute but if you are looking to have a lovely bit of cheddar with your Jacobs crackers (and to be fair, who doesn’t?) then perhaps veganism isn’t for you? Also, you can’t have milk so better switch to coffee mate. (don’t worry this has recently been made vegan-friendly!)

Makeup

Okay, not all makeup is banned! Although a lot of people who live a vegan lifestyle are kind of “earthy” and favour a more natural look anyway. Although not true of all vegans! I know a vegan who used to sell makeup as her primary source of income. In all honesty, most make up these days is vegan-friendly, but not all of it. Proceed with caution!

Washing products

Yes, that is right. Next time you are having a shower check out the bottles and they will state if they are vegan-friendly or not. Ingredients to avoid are stuff like Biotin and Cetyl alcohol. Incidentally, I think that original sources products tend to be vegan-friendly.

Guinness

I know this one is going to ruin St Patrick’s day for a lot of people. Apparently, the “black gold” includes a fish extract in the brewing process. Given the mass popularity of this product, I don’t see them changing it to make it more vegan-friendly either. Sorry.

Honey

It’s not just big animals that vegans care about. They look after the little guy as well. Anything that comes as a by-product of an animal is a big no-no which means no honey! This also counts out quite a lot of really tasty breakfast cereal too!

Soup

Now obviously a tin of chicken noodle soup would be a no-no, but even some vegetable soups are off limits due to the fact they are not made from a vegetable stock! You can look for vegan-friendly soups though or better still make your own. You can’t go wrong with homemade soup! Yum.

Stuff cooked in animal fat

This can quite often discount chips, crisps and lots of other yummy goodies. Also, some pastries are made with lard which obviously isn’t vegan. So no sausage rolls, not because of the pastry, because of the sausage! Obviously! It also discounts quite a lot of sweet pastries like certain apple pies!